Revealed: Bet365 tycoon pockets £271m as she enjoys bumper pay day

Britain’s richest lady has pocketed practically £300million as she enjoys one other bumper pay day from the household’s playing enterprise.

Denise Coates, who’s founder and chief government of Bet365, was handed £271million in pay and dividends final 12 months, based on new firm accounts.

The billionaire obtained a wage of £221million for the 12 months ending March 2023, up from the £213million she made the 12 months earlier than.

As the corporate’s controlling shareholder, Ms Coates, 56, was additionally entitled to at the least half of the corporate’s £100million dividend that was additionally dished for the 12 months. This landed her a windfall of round £50million.

Denise Coates, who’s founder and chief government of Bet365, was handed £271million in pay and dividends final 12 months, based on new firm accounts

Ms Coates has run Stoke-on-Trent based mostly Bet365 because it was based in 2000 alongside her father Peter and repeatedly tops the checklist of the UK’s greatest paid chief executives.

She got here below hearth in 2020 when it was revealed that she paid herself £469million – one of many largest salaries in UK historical past.

Her pay out later dropped to £250million in 2021 after which £213million the next 12 months. But it has meant she has earned round £1.2billion up to now 4 years – making over £1million for each working day.

And the household, which additionally owns Stoke City soccer membership, are price an estimated £8billion.

Her brother John is concerned within the Bet365 enterprise and is a significant shareholder. But the Coates’s immense wealth and hefty pay cheques haven’t all the time proved well-liked. And some have argued that her newest wage ‘over-values’ the place of chief executives.

Luke Hildyard, government director of the High Pay Centre, a assume tank centered on pay, stated: ‘Nobody turns into a multi-billionaire in isolation from wider society. In this case, the wealth depends upon cash popping out of gamblers’ pockets.’

He added: ‘Pouring a whole bunch of tens of millions of kilos extra on prime of billionaire fortunes yearly is not a great way to maximise residing requirements and it over-values the contribution that the super-rich have made.’

But the Coates household are a few of Britain’s largest taxpayers having paid an estimated £460million to the Exchequer final 12 months alone.

The billionaire obtained a wage of £221million for the 12 months ending March 2023, up from the £213million she made the 12 months earlier than

Bet365 is the biggest personal sector employer in Stoke and employs round 7,000 out of its headquarters, in addition to in Gibraltar.

Ms Coates began working in bookmaking as an adolescent when she labored in retailers owned by her father, the son of a miner who made his fortune within the sports activities stadium catering enterprise.

The mom of 5 youngsters, together with 4 ladies adopted from the identical household, noticed that the way forward for the trade was on-line and mortgaged the betting retailers to construct the Bet365 web site.

She purchased the area identify on eBay and launched the positioning in 2001, rising quickly due to prolific promoting fronted by actor Ray Winston.

In 2012 Coates was awarded a CBE for companies to the neighborhood and enterprise.

Nonetheless she has personally most well-liked to maintain a low-profile and stated in one in every of her uncommon interviews that she didn’t ‘benefit from the consideration’ of the highlight.

In the most recent monetary 12 months, Bet365 posted revenues of £3.4billion however notched up a lack of £69million because the playing empire continues to spend money on new markets.

It has licences in Argentina, Australia, Germany, Gibraltar, Ireland, Spain and The Netherlands.

In the 12 months, the group additionally made a £105million donation to The Denise Coates Foundation, a registered charity.